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Day 2 – Okehampton to Bristol – 93 miles
Sarah Ayton led the first Be Number 1 LEJOG school health and fitness workshop - to highlight to children the links between diet, lifestyle, sport and health - at Okehampton Primary School in Devon this morning. Okehampton was the first of six schools that will be visited by Be Number 1 as part of their LEJOG project.
The two-time Olympic sailing gold medallist, who was ably supported by Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson as the Three Blondes in a Boat were reunited 10 months after their success in China, captivated an eager audience who hung on her every word.
After describing each person’s role in the Yngling boat, Ayton explained how watching Sally Gunnell’s success in the women’s 400m hurdles final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics inspired her to believe that she, too, could one day become a British Olympic champion. And that you can make a dream come true if you possess the ambition and the dedication to succeed
Ayton also explained that winning an Olympic gold medal was “an awesome feeling – like winning at sports day, only 20,000 times better.” She further described how success in her chosen sport had brought with it notable life changes, including meeting the Queen and appearing on a multitude of television programmes, including Ready, Steady Cook and Ant and Dec. But her achievement of having driven a Ferrari around Silverstone drew the biggest approval rating from her young audience!
As well as passing her two gold medals around the audience, Ayton, together with Webb, fielded a wide range of questions, including ones on the benefits of healthy living, pulse rates and at what age they started sailing.
“As well as explaining the connections between diet, lifestyle, sport and health, I wanted to get the point across that it is important to have a dream,” Ayton said. “And that if you work really, really hard, your dream can come true - whether you are a sportsperson like me or whether you want to become a guitarist or a mechanic, as two of the children said they wanted to be when they grow up.
“I was a bit worried at one stage that I wasn’t going to get my medals back, such was the interest that the children were showing in them!”
Brian Cunningham, the headmaster of Okehampton Primary School, which caters for 578 pupils between the ages of three and 11, said: “We are immensely grateful that Sarah Ayton and the rest of the Be Number 1 LEJOG team were able to come and visit us. Sarah is a fantastic role model and it is important for the children to understand that it you have aspirations and work hard, there is no limit to what can be achieved in life.”
The Be Number 1 LEJOG project is raising money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), who were represented at Okehampton Primary School by Owen Penney, the BHF’s fundraising manager for the south-west peninsula.
Penney said: “We are naturally delighted that Be Number 1 have chosen the British Heart Foundation as the charity for their LEJOG project. One third of children in this country are obese and that is a trend that will only get worse.
“Our campaign aims to get the message across about the links between health, diet and exercise – and that there are informed choices. For instance, do children know that every packet of crisps contains two and a half teaspoons worth of oil? And that if you eat a packet of crisps every day for a year, you are basically pouring five litres of oil down your throat?”
After the workshop had finished, the pupils of Okehampton Primary School gave the Be Number 1 cycling team a rousing send-off as they departed for the 93-mile leg to Bristol, a destination that was safely reached this evening.
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